Federal Legislation

Dr. Wirth Presents Good Evidence of Peak Oil 2008

kauaibrad — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:24:51 -0800

Monday, January 5, 2009

Dr. Wirth Presents Good Evidence of Peak Oil 2008 In a comment to this blog Clifford J. Wirth, Ph.D. said...

"The top story of the year is that global crude oil production peaked in 2008.

The media, governments, world leaders, and public should focus on this issue.

Global crude oil production had been rising briskly until 2004, then plateaued for four years. Because oil producers were extracting at maximum effort to profit from high oil prices, this plateau is a clear indication of Peak Oil.

Is This the 'Clean Coal' that Obama Speaks Of?

kauaibrad — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 16:29:25 -0800

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Is This the 'Clean Coal' that Obama Speaks Of? As reported by Kauai Museletter and DN!:

"Huge environmental disaster in Tennessee - Coal Ash spill"

"Friends,

There was a huge and terrible environmental disaster in Tennessee yesterday.

The Tennessee Valley Authority, better known as TVA, has a coal-burning power plant located near Harriman, Tennessee, along Interstate 40 between Knoxville and Nashville. The stuff that is left over after TVA burns their coal is called coal ash.

Coal ash contains mercury and dangerous heavy metals like lead and arsenic - materials found naturally in coal are concentrated in the ash.

TVA has a huge mountain of this coal waste material stored in a gigantic pile next to their Harriman (Kingston) power plant, alongside a tributary of the Tennessee River.

Need to Know How the Economy got to this Point and Who got us Here

kauaibrad — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 23:58:21 -0800

Friday, December 12, 2008

Need to Know How the Economy got to this Point and Who got us Here Published on Wednesday, December 10, 2008 by Vanity Fair:

"Capitalist Fools"
by Joseph E. Stiglitz,
recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001

"Behind the debate over remaking U.S. financial policy will be a debate over who’s to blame. It’s crucial to get the history right, writes a Nobel-laureate economist, identifying five key mistakes—under Reagan, Clinton, and Bush II—and one national delusion."

The Center of the Financial Problem, CDS's: "What Barack Obama Needs to Know About Tim Geithner..." by Chris Whalen

kauaibrad — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 04:20:29 -0800

Saturday, November 29, 2008

The Center of the Financial Problem, CDS's: "What Barack Obama Needs to Know About Tim Geithner, the AIG Fiasco and Citigroup" by Christopher Whalen Back in the early 90's, I followed an analyst by the name of Christopher Whalen. I followed him because he was one of the only good, honest analysts out there on Mexico. I even made it a point to seek out Chris in Washington, D.C., meet him, and talk with him on the subject. Later, after the Mexican peso was devalued under Salinas, which Chris had been one of the few to predict publicly, Chris moved on to other areas of finance to analyze, and I quit following him.

JHSV Contract Awarded Well Over Budget

kauaibrad — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 03:02:50 -0800

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

JHSV Contract Awarded Well Over Budget On Nov. 13th, the JHSV contract was awarded by the DoD Naval Sea Systems Command to, "Austal USA, Mobile Ala., is being awarded a $185,433,564 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-08-C-2217) for the firm quantity of one Joint High Speed Vessel (JHSV)..."

Corporate 'Capitalists' clamoring to be Socialists

kauaibrad — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 12:23:47 -0700

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20081025/BREAKING/81025013

Updated at 9:03 a.m., Saturday, October 25, 2008

"Companies start competing for bailout money"
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — "The bailout is now the hottest lobbying game in town.

Insurers, automakers and American subsidiaries of foreign banks all want the Treasury Department to cut them a piece of the largest government rescue in U.S. history.

The betting is that many with their hands out will be successful, especially with financial markets in a stomach-churning dive and predictions the economy is about to tumble into a deep recession.

These groups argue that the credit squeeze is so severe and the risks to the economy so dire that their industries need financial support as well.

The Treasury is considering requests from a variety of industries, but has not decided whether to expand the program, officials said Saturday.

Lobbying efforts are intensifying.

The Financial Services Roundtable wrote Treasury officials on Friday requesting that the initiative to buy $250 billion in bank stock grow to cover insurers, auto companies, securities dealers and U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies, including banks. The Treasury's plan is intended to bolster banks' tattered balance sheets and get them to resume making loans.

Farmer in Chief

andrea — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:34:44 -0700

Farmer in Chief

By MICHAEL POLLAN

Dear Mr. President-Elect,

It may surprise you to learn that among the issues that will occupy much of your time in the coming years is one you barely mentioned during the campaign: food. Food policy is not something American presidents have had to give much thought to, at least since the Nixon administration — the last time high food prices presented a serious political peril. Since then, federal policies to promote maximum production of the commodity crops (corn, soybeans, wheat and rice) from which most of our supermarket foods are derived have succeeded impressively in keeping prices low and food more or less off the national political agenda. But with a suddenness that has taken us all by surprise, the era of cheap and abundant food appears to be drawing to a close. What this means is that you, like so many other leaders through history, will find yourself confronting the fact — so easy to overlook these past few years — that the health of a nation’s food system is a critical issue of national security. Food is about to demand your attention.

Bailout Bill Includes Bike Commuting Tax Credits

kauaibrad — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:25:07 -0700

October 2, 2008
Links at: http://www.streetsblog.org/2008/10/02/bailout-bill-includes-bike-commuti...
"Bailout Bill Includes Bike Commuting Benefit"
by Brad Aaron

"Remember Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer's long-sought $20 per month tax credit for bike commuters, intended to extend a benefit to cyclists that motorists have received for decades? The measure ridiculed by North Carolina Rep. Patrick "Give Me Fossil Fuels or Give Me Death" McHenry? It didn't make it into law last year, but it seems the bike commuting credit has found its way into the latest version of the financial bailout package.

Section 211 of the "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008" allows for a "qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement" for "reasonable expenses incurred by the employee during such calendar year for the purchase of a bicycle and bicycle improvements, repair, and storage, if such bicycle is regularly used for travel between the employee’s residence and place of employment."

Other transpo-related items in the bill include credits for biofuels and other "alternative" mixtures, plug-in electric vehicles, and what looks like a few goodies for oil and natural gas producers. Another section includes incentives for green construction and renewable energy production.

The full text of the 451-page bill, expected to be taken up by the House of Representatives on Friday, is available here. Tell us if you find other items of interest."

Solar and wind tax credits passed in this bill too,
Aloha, Brad

The Local Community Radio Act Will Increase Local Voices, Choices

andrea — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:20:52 -0700

Published on Thursday, September 25, 2008 by The Seattle Times
The Local Community Radio Act Will Increase Local Voices, Choices

by Jonathan Lawson

This fall, Congress has the opportunity to expand local radio choices for people in cities and towns across America by passing a single, bipartisan piece of legislation. The Local Community Radio Act will allow hundreds more small noncommercial stations to fill vacant spaces on the radio dial - increasing local voices and music choices.

Folks in Opelousas, La., have a particularly strong understanding of the value of local community radio. When the Federal Communications Commission granted permission for a Low-Power FM (LPFM) community radio station in 2002, it was a point of pride for locals because the station would air zydeco music.

Despite its deep cultural roots in the community, zydeco could no longer be heard on the big commercial stations. And while the new station KOCZ didn't have the reach of the area's commercial stations - many of which are owned by conglomerates based in Las Vegas and Cincinnati - it served its listeners well with local church services, community forums and, of course, zydeco.

But when Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana in 2006, the small local station rose to the occasion. Staying on the air throughout the storm and its aftermath, the community-based station was uniquely situated to provide essential public-safety information. KOCZ broadcasts helped coordinate grassroots-led aid efforts, providing information for evacuees seeking shelter and services.

Palin's Connection To 'Big Oil'

andrea — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:52:48 -0700

Published on Thursday, September 4, 2008 by Al Jazeera
Palin's Connection To 'Big Oil'

by Rob Winder

ST PAUL, Minn. - Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska who has shot to prominence as John McCain's choice as running-mate, is best known as a passionate believer in new oil and gas exploration, including in Alaska's National Widelife Reserve - something McCain himself rejects.

[Palin says the US should (and can) drill its way out of dependence on foreign oil. She has presented herself as a challenger to corporate interests in Alaska, although that is because she believes the major energy companies have not acted swiftly enough in carrying out drilling and pipeline projects in the state.[GALLO/GETTY]]Palin says the US should (and can) drill its way out of dependence on foreign oil. She has presented herself as a challenger to corporate interests in Alaska, although that is because she believes the major energy companies have not acted swiftly enough in carrying out drilling and pipeline projects in the state.[GALLO/GETTY
But campaigners say she has a mixed record on her dealings with the oil corporations to which the Republican party has so many historic ties.

"There is no question that Palin's appointment as the Republican vice-presidential candidate cements the fact that John McCain is the candidate of big oil," Dan Weiss, a senior fellow at the Centre for American Progress, a Washington-based think-tank, told Al Jazeera.

"She supports the agenda of big oil - of more drilling - and she opposes investments in clean and renewable energy," he said.